The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi, one of the ten IITs featured in the QS World University Sustainability Rankings 2027, has improved its standing in the latest edition of the rankings. IIT Delhi secured the 118th position globally, improving its ranking by 79 places over the past four years, according to the institute.
While IIT Delhi climbed the rankings, IIT Bombay, which had previously topped the list among Indian institutions, slipped from 129th place to 134th. The institute had also dropped 11 positions in the previous edition of the rankings.
MIT retains global lead
Globally, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) retained the top position for the 15th consecutive year. It was followed by Stanford University, Imperial College London, the University of Oxford and Harvard University.
IITs dominate India’s top 10
The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) continued to dominate the list of India’s top-ranked institutions. Besides IIT Delhi and IIT Bombay, IIT Madras was the only other Indian institution to feature among the world’s top 200 universities, improving its rank to 170 from 180 last year.
Other institutions in India’s top 10 included IIT Kharagpur (205), IIT Kanpur (221), the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru (221), the University of Delhi (322), IIT Roorkee (335) and IIT Guwahati (349).
Among these, IISc Bengaluru and IIT Guwahati registered a decline in their rankings compared with the previous year.
Shoolini University enters India’s top 10
Shoolini University of Biotechnology and Management Sciences, a private university in Himachal Pradesh, also secured a place among India’s top 10 institutions. The university improved its global ranking to 452, up from 503 last year.
The rankings evaluate universities on a range of environmental, social and governance (ESG) indicators.
‘Rankings are an outcome, not an objective’
Commenting on the rankings, Prof. Somnath Baidya Roy, Dean, Planning, and Head of the Ranking Cell at IIT Delhi, said the institute remains focused on delivering world-class and affordable technological education.
“IIT Delhi remains committed to the goal of providing world-class, affordable technological education and becoming a preferred destination for scholars worldwide. Our revamped curriculum, new infrastructure, and increased international engagement will enhance our quality and impact in the coming years. We see rankings as an outcome, not an objective. If we do the right things for the right reasons, rankings will follow naturally,” Roy was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
Strong performance across disciplines
Earlier, in the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2026 released in March, several disciplines at IIT Delhi recorded notable improvements.
Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science, Chemical Engineering and Civil Engineering were all ranked among the world’s top 50 subjects.
The institute also secured the 36th spot globally in the Engineering and Technology category, retaining its position as the highest-ranked Indian institution in the field, according to IIT Delhi.
The QS World University Sustainability Rankings is an annual ranking published by QS, a global higher education analytics firm. It assesses universities based on their commitment to and performance across environmental, social and governance (ESG) sustainability measures.